Washing-machine.



F. B. VOEGELI.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION TILED DEC. 4, 1913.

1,117,112. Patented Nov. 10,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wanna i THE NORRIS PEIERS 130.. PHOICLLA I "0.. WAa'HlNG ION, D4 C F. B.VOEGELI.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED DEC. 4, 1913.

1,1 17, 1 1 2, Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

THE NORR/b PETERS 00., PHOTO LlTHv WASH/NC run, 0 c

FREDERICK B. VOEGELI, OF MANSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

WASHING-MACHINE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'Nov. 10, 1914.

Application filed December 4, 1913. SerialNo. 804,769.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I,F uiDER1c-K B.VOEGELI, asubject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at lWIansfield, county ofBristol, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Washing-Mm chines, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention is especially intended for use in crping and slack washingcloth preparatory to bleaching during the bleaching and subsequentwashing process, but it is applicable to machines for simply washingcloths, whether intended to be creped or not,

and irrespective of whether it is subse-v quently. to be bleached. y

In machines of this character it is customary to let the cloth by itsown weight drop into water where it is caught by a revolving pin andallowed to again drop, and

I so on repeatedly. In machines heretofore web of cloth.

in use, so far as I am aware, it has been impossible to do this work ona very long It has been found necessary to out the web into relativelyshort lengths and even with the short length it willbecome tangled andfinally form a tight knot which requires a long time to disentangle. Oneobject of my invention is to produce a machine in which a web of anylength desired may be put through the process of washing without thenecessity of cutting it into shorter lengths and which is capable ofperforming its work continuously, whatever length of web may bepresented and without entangling the cloth. Its feed and delivery arecontinuous. Its production is increased many fold as compared with thepresent method of slack washing. The cloth is not dropped by its ownweight but is slapped forcefully back and forth. I

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying draw ings, and the novelfeatures thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claimsat the close of the specification.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a machine embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation viewed from the right-hand end of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a plan view of the oscillating box sectioned through thehangers which support the box. Fig. a is a detail end view showing infull lines the box at the extremeend of its oscillating stroke ononeside, and showing in dotted lines the'box' at the extreme end of itsoscil lating stroke in the other direction.

Referring now to the drawings,l represents an oscillating box throughwhich the cloth iscaused to pass during the process of washing. This boxis preferably provided with a lining 2 of sheet copper or other suitablemetal which will resist-chemmale and will minimize the friction betweenthe cloth and the bottom of the box caused by the kinetic power of thecloth. Th1s box is suitably hung so as to oscillate laterally andpreferably hangs in an inclined position, the entrance end of the boxbeing higher than the other end so that the water and cloth will traveldownward toward the exit end of the box. Any suitable number ofoscillating hangers may be provided, two. or more according to thelength of the box, but for ordinary purposes one hanger near each end ofthe box is sufficient and in the drawings two of these hangers 3, 4respectively are shown. As it is important that each end of the boxshall oscillate through the same arc, each of these hangers 3, 4 shouldbe of the same length and therefore the pivotpoint'or center ofoscillation of the hanger 3 should be at as much higher elevationthanthe pivot support and hanger may be provided. For

convenience of designation the exit end of the machine is termed thefront and the entrance end the rear. In the drawings, the frame forsupporting the hangers andthe machine consists of two upright posts 5,6, at the front end of the machine, that is, at the exit end, two rearposts 7, 8, which are of greater height than the front posts 5, 6, across beam 9 at the top of the two front posts, a cross beam 10, at thetop of the two rear' posts 7, 8, and two side bars 11, 12 extending fromthe front posts to the rear posts, but it is not intended to limit theinvention to any particular form of frame.

which may be turned back on its hinges so as to afford access to theinterior of the box, Any other suitable cover may be provided, as forinstance, of wood if it is not desired to observe the interior while thecover is closed. The box is stayed by a metal frame 14 having aplurality of straps 15, to two of which the hangers 3, 4 respectivelyare connected. The hanger 3 is fastened rigidly at its upper end to ashaft 16, which makes a partial rotation alternately in oppositsdirections in bearings 17, 1? which are secured to the under side of therear cross beam 10. The front hanger 4 is rigidly connected with a shaft18, which makes a partial. rotation alternately in opposite directionsin bearings 19, 19, secured to the under side of the front cross beam 9.

Connected with the upper end of the oscillatingbox is a platform 20having an inclined surface at a steeper inclination than the bottom ofthe box 1 and having sides 21 whereby it is secured to the side walls ofthe box 1. It has an open top, thus forming a sort of hopper. it isadjustably secured to the box 1 in such manner that the inclination ofthe platform 20 may be varied more or less, as desired. The means fordoing this, as shown, consists in forming the side walls of thisplatform or box with curved slots through which thumb screws 23 pass toclamp it to the side walls of the box. It is obvious that by looseningup the thumb screws 23 the platform may be adjusted to vary theinclination, and that by setting up the thumb screws again the platformmay be held in its adjusted position.

A water pipe 24 supplies a stream of hot or cold water as desired whichfalls upon the platform 20 and flows down through the box, furnishing aconstant supply of fresh water to the cloth as it is traveling throughthe box. The box is provided with small holes both in the sides and inthe bottom of the box at different portions of its length so that therewill be a constant discharge of water at different points throughout thelength of the box, thus keeping the water fresh throughout all parts ofthe box. A pipe 26 which also supplies water enters the top of the boxnear its lower end and connects with a spurt pipe 27 which extendslengthwise through the box just beneath the cover and midway of itswidth nearly or quite to the upper end of the box, said pipe 27 beingformed with apertures to allow the water to escape in fine jets and fallupon the upper sideof the cloth as it is passing through the box. Inorder to accommodate the pipes 24 and 26 to the oscillations of the box,they are both provided with flexible connections 45, 46, respectively.

Any suitable means for giving regular oscillation to the box 1 may beprovided.

. The means shown in the drawings are as f the rolls.

follows,-an eccentric 28 mounted on shaft 50 is driven by suitablemeans, as for instance by a belt 47 running from a driving pulley 48onto a driven pulley 49. Said eccentric is formed with a slot 31 fromwhich there projects a pin 51, said pin 51 having a pivot connectionwith a rod 32, said rod 32 being connected with a shaft 33, mounted in abracket 34 on the side of the box 1.

The cloth in large pieces or pieces of any length desired is preferablyfolded in yard folds 35 and placed on a truck 36, which is rolled into aconvenient station near the rear end of the machine and the end of thecloth is drawn off until it passes through an eye 37 mounted on asuitable support. Thence it passes between the two feed rolls 38 and 39,thence down onto the platform 20 down through the box 1 out through anopenlng 40 in the lower end of the box,

thence through an eye 41 and between the rolls 42, 43 whence it fallsonto a box truck 44, the rolls 38, 39 serving to draw the cloth up fromthe truck and the rolls 42, 43 serving to draw the cloth from the box 1and allow it to drop into the box truck 44. They are not necessary,iowever, to cause the travel of the cloth through the box 1, becausethat movement of the cloth will be performed by the vibration of the boxand the current of water inconnection with the fact that the box is setat an incline.

Mounted on shaft 50 is a pulley 52 from which a bel 29 runs to a pulley30 on shaft 53 which carries the feed roll 39. The roll 33 is journaledso as to be permitted a ver tical yielding movement and is virtually apresser roll as well as a feed roll and is driven by frictional contactwith the roll 39 or by the friction of the cloth between The draw roll43 is driven by connections with the same shaft 53, which 1 drives thefeed roll 39, so that the two rolls 39 and 43 will have the same speed.Any

suitable means may be employed. The .method shown for doing this is torun a belt 60 from the same pulley 30 through which the roll 39 isdriven over an idler 61 mounted in suitable supports and thence over apulley 62 on the shaft 63 which carries the feed roll 43. Thus the feedroll is driven in unison and at the same speed as the feed roll 39. Theroll 42 is journaled in elongated slots 64 in hangers 65 supported bythe frame, only one of said hangers being shown, one being behind theother in the drawings. The cloth will not be drawn taut in its passagethrough the box, but will be slack and will also be in what is termedrope form rather than passing through in flat sheet form. That is, as itpasses through the eye 37 it will be drawn some what into foldslengthwise and will pass into the box in that same form and this facttaken together with the slapping action and throwing of the cloth fromone side to the. other of the box as it oscillates will tend to keep thecloth in its so termed rope form, not twisted, but lying in parallelfolds.

The are of vibration or oscillation of the box is .not necessarily of:any particular length, that is through any particular number of degrees,but it is preferable to have it swing on each side of the vertical linea distance equal to about the full width of the box, as shown in Fig. 4.It is obvious that the machine maybe kept in continuous operation aslong as desired, thus. taking care of cloth put up in pieces of anylength that may be offered The machine may be speeded up to any speeddesired, whether fifty oscillations or five hundred oscillations of thebox per minute, or more or less, according to the requirements. Thecloth should be drawn out through thelower end of the box at the samerate of speed that it is drawn into the box, but ifthere be allowed aconsiderable length of cloth to accumulate in the box before the drawingoff begins, then the length of time that each new portion that comes inat the entrance end will remain in the box before being drawn out at thelower end will be greater than if no accumulation were allowed, and thusit will be more thoroughly washed. For instance if in starting, the boxis allowed to hold six hundred yards and the rate of feed and ofdelivery are equal, as for example one hundred yards per minute, thecloth will be six minutes in passing from entrance to exit and besubjected to the wash for that period of time. This period can beincreased or diminished-by. allowing the box to hold more or lessrespectively .of the goods. In order to provide for this leeway, it ispreferable to tie a rope onto the starting end of the cloth and draw therope through the box and exit opening 40 then allow the cloth toaccumulate before drawing any of the cloth'out. After the cloth hasaccumulated to the desired amount'before beginning to draw it out, therope is passed between the draw rolls 42, 43, and then they will beginto draw the rope and consequently draw out the cloth. It will thus beseen that by allowing the clothito.

accumulate in this way, then after it is once accumulated, the actualrate of feed both into and out of the box may be very rapid,

that in a. comparatively short space the cloth can be left for arelatively long period in constant motion in the water yet have a" anexit opening at. the other end, means for introducing water into thebox, means for oscillating the box laterally, means for feeding thecloth into the entrance end of the box, and means'for drawing'the clothout of the exit end of the box.

3. A washing machine, comprisinga box. through which the cloth passes,said box having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening atthe other end, means for introducing water into the box, and means foroscillating the box laterally, means for hangingsaid box at an inclineso that the exit end is lower than the entrance end, and

means foroscillatingsaid box laterally-with an equal radiusofoscillation for'theentire length of the box.

4. A washing machine, comprising a boxthrough which the cloth passes,said box having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening atthe otherend, means for introducing water into the box, oscillatinghangers secured to said box at different points in its length, all ofthehangers being pivotally connected attheir upper ends and havingequallength of radius of oscillation, the pivot connection for the hanger atthe head being at a higher'elevation than that at the foot whereby thebox is held at an incline, and means for oscillating the box.

5. A washing machine, comprising a box; through which the cloth passes,said box.

an exit opening at the other end,-means for oscillating the. boxlaterally, saidbox being having an entrance opening at one end {and hungat an incline so that the exit end is lower than. the entrance end,means. for introducing water into the upper end of the ,box', a spurtpipe extending lengthwise of the box above the cloth in the box and hungat an incline so that the exit end is lower than the entrance end, meansfor introducing hot or cold water into the upper end of the box, aspirit pipe extending lengthwise of the box over the cloth in the boxand formed with perforations whereby the water introduced through thepipe will pass out in jets onto the cloth as it passes through the box,said box being formed with small outlet orifices at different portionsof the box.

7. A washing machine, comprising a box through which the cloth passes,said box having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening atthe other end, means for introducing water into the box, and means foroscillating the box laterally, said box being hung at an incline so thatthe exit end is lower than the entrance end, an inclined platform orchute connected with the entrance end of the box whose bottom stands ata greater inclination than the inclination of the bottom of the box, andmeans for feeding the cloth into said chute.

8. In a. washing machine, a box through which the cloth passes in thewashing operation, oscillating hangers which hold said box in aninclined position with its outlet end lower than its inlet end, all ofsaid hangers being of the same radius of movement, means for oscillatingsaid box in a plane at right angles with its length, said box having anopening at each end for the entrance and exit of the cloth, means forintroducing hot or cold water into said box said chute being set withits bottom at a greater inclination than the bottom of the box, a guidethrough which the cloth passes to the chute, means which draw the cloththrough the guide to said chute, a guide through which the cloth passesfrom the outlet end of the box and means which draw the cloth throughthe said last guide.

9. In a washing machine, an oscillatory box inclined lengthwise thereofin which the cloth is washed, means for causing a circulation of waterthrough the box, means for oscillating the box laterally, the box beingformed with an entrance opening to admit the cloth at one end and anoutlet opening for the discharge of the cloth at the other 'end, meansfor feeding the cloth continuously into the box at the entrance end,means for continuously drawing the cloth out of the box at the otherend, means whereby the feed of the cloth into the box and feed out ofthe box are at equal speed, said box being of a width and height topermit the cloth to accumulate therein in folds in a much greaterquantity than a single strip of the cloth of the same length as the boxso that the cloth can be fed into and drawn out of the box at a greaterspeed than the speed of linear travel of the cloth through the box.

10. In a washing machine, an oscillatory box in which the cloth iswashed, means for oscillating the box laterally, the box being formedwith an entrance opening to admit the cloth at one end and an outletopening for the discharge of the cloth at the other end, means forfeeding the cloth continuously into the box at the entrance end, meansfor continuously drawing the cloth out of the box at the other end,means whereby the feed of the cloth into the box and feed out of the boxare at equal speed, said box being of a width and height to permit thecloth to accumulate therein in a much greater quantity than a singlestrip of the cloth of the same length as the box, so that the cloth canbe fed into and drawn out of the box at a greater speed than the speedof linear travel of the cloth through the box.

11. In a washing machine, an oscillatory box inclined lengthwise thereofin which the cloth is washed, means for oscillating the box laterally,the box being formed with an entrance opening to admit the cloth at oneend and an outlet opening for the discharge of the cloth t the otherend, means for feeding the cloth continuously into the box at theentrance end, means for continuously drawing the cloth out of the box atthe other end, and means whereby the feed of the cloth into the box andfeed out of the box are at equal speed.

12. A washing machine comprising a box through which the cloth passes,said box having an entrance opening at one end to admit the cloth and anexit opening at the other end to permit withdrawal of the cloth,

means for introducing a continuous flow of water into the box, means forallowing a continuous flow of water out of the box, means foroscillating the box laterally, means for feeding the cloth into theentrance end of the box, and means for drawing the cloth out of the exitend of the box at the same rate of speed that it is drawn into the box,said entrance and exit feeds for the cloth running simultaneously.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

, FREDERICK B. VOEGELI. Witnesses KATHERINE OMALLEY, ALICE M. CARROLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Gommissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. U.

